The challenge involved two autonomous trucks moving towards each other in perfect sync to create a window of less than a second for a professional mountain biker to jump through the opening in between them. It culminated in a world first, as Red Bull athlete Matt Jones successfully jumped between the two self-driving vehicles.
This feat brought together the creativity, engineering excellence and determination of teams from Scania, Red Bull and PlusAI to turn an ‘impossible’ vision into a reality. It was meticulously planned and executed, with advanced software development, practice sessions and safety checks taking place over several months.
Super-intelligent technology supports sustainability shift
Scania is revolutionising transport with autonomous solutions that redefine safety, operational efficiency and sustainability. The company’s mission is to drive the shift towards sustainable transport systems and autonomy is an essential part of that.
“Transport is a cornerstone of our daily lives, and with that comes enormous responsibility to get goods to the right person or company in the most safe and efficient way. This challenge was a glimpse of what’s possible when breakthrough autonomous technology delivers precision and safety you can count on,” says Peter Hafmar, Head of Autonomous Solutions at Scania.
Scania’s autonomous solutions for mining and hub-to-hub logistics aim to improve efficiency and safety, reduce operating costs, and minimise environmental impact, as well as alleviate the global driver shortage that poses a real challenge to many of its customers’ operations.
This technology is no longer just an idea for the future. The company’s autonomous mining trucks are already available to customers, and this is just the beginning. Self-driving technology will soon be moving onto highways, enabling hub-to-hub freight transport. In fact, Scania is already active on European roads with safety drivers, in partnership with the Silicon Valley based company PlusAI. Scania’s world-class trucks and in-house software capabilities, paired with the cutting-edge AI-based technology provided by PlusAI is set to deliver safe, scalable and factory-built autonomous solutions for the road.